Etsy-backed business-education program counsels founders to focus on sustainability before growth

Startup founders often feel pressure to chase rapid growth at any cost. So it is notable that one new program urges them to think small.

In an era of startup accelerators, the Good Work Institute, a free business-education program for entrepreneurs with modest-sized firms, might best be called a decelerator. Run by Etsy.org, the philanthropic offshoot of online craft marketplace Etsy Inc., the program counsels founders to focus on virtues like sustainability rather than new storefronts and staff. It also cautions them against...